Tagged: slow cooker

It’s been a summer of gatherings; cousins for brunch pancakes and the Aussie’s parents for dinner, relatives from England for Sunday lunch and visitors who came for morning cake and stayed for omelettes. It’s...

First published on Irish Country Living. When days are dark and the mood is gloomy, there’s nothing better than coming home to a kitchen that smells of something rich and gloriously savoury. Weeknight dinners are...

You know that sinking feeling when you realise you’ve had something in your freezer for, ooh, way too long? We all have them. Large blocks of unidentifiable meat, sitting ominously in the corner. Ours...

Moving house is a time for simple, uncomplicated recipes that use up ingredients already in the fridge, freezer or storecupboard. Dishes that can be prepared in advance and let to bubble slowly in the oven or slow cooker are also a big plus.

I hadn’t intended on cooking beef cheeks for a family lunch but a chance trip to the English Market to meet Clare and her MM on Saturday morning gave me an unexpected opportunity. Queuing at Tom Durcan Meats, there was a bit of banter with the man ahead of me about the lamb’s liver for one that he was picking up – like myself at the cottage, no one else in his house will eat it – and then, rather than ordering a kilo of stewing beef, I asked the butcher what would he recommend for long, slow cooking. “I have an idea,” he said, “but I’m not sure you’ll like it. How do you feel about beef cheeks?”

I wish I could be the kind of person who says that I’ve no interest in kitchen gadgets (and mean it) but that would be a total and absolute lie. My 10-year old immersion blender was recently replaced after it got a little overworked from Little Missy’s weening dinners and, faced with the idea of no blendedsoups, homemade mayo or lump-free gravy (it happens to everyone, y’know) I came out in a cold sweat and headed straight to the shops. The bread machine, which I picked up from Gumtree for a tenner two years ago, is in constant use. This weeks’ breads? Little Missy’s favourite cheese and mustard loaf for lunchtime soups and a breakfast one, flecked with shreds of marmalade, for toasting. Gumtree was also the source of my slow cooker, which I picked up at the start of the summer. Another €10 so, I figured after a bit of heming and hawing, nothing venture, nothing gain.

Since the first Leon cookbook arrived at the cottage, it hasn’t been allowed to leave the kitchen. Crammed with whole food ideas and healthy, seasonal dishes, all the food is tempting and very, very tasty. The Indian Parsnip Soup is one of those recipes that is in constant rotation, Little Missy loves the Sweet Potato Falafel and there’s always a stash of smoked fish in the fridge for a Magic Mackerel salad.

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